Ears to hear.

Send out your light and your truth, that they may lead me, and bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling; That I may go to the altar of God, to the God of my joy and gladness. Psalm 43:3–4

September 11, 2016

Bow down Your ear, O LORD, and answer me…Keep watch over my life, for I am faithful. Psalm 86:1-2

Lord, You have been our refuge from one generation to another. Before the mountains were brought forth, or the land and sea were formed, from age to age, You are God. Psalm 90:1-2

But He said unto them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice. Luke 8:21

God for us, we call You, “Father,”

God alongside of us, we call You “Jesus,”

God within us, we call You “Holy Spirit.”

Every name falls short of Your goodness and glory.

We can only see what is.

We ask for such perfect seeing,

As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be.

Amen.

Grant me O Lord, to trust in You with all of my heart; for, as You always resist the proud who rely upon their own strength, so You never forsake those who make their boast of Your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever, Amen.

The thing about teaching is that it is a vivid reminder of one generation to the next really looks like. Sometimes we get so tangled up in this morning’s headlines or NPRs voice over, that we forget.

And so I spread out my stacks and stack of papers to not so much “grade,’ but as to give feedback so that each student knows that I noticed, under the swaying pine trees and under the almost-rain-filled cumulonimbus clouds scooting over the bright blue sky, I consider age to age.

We had the Letter Home from the Trenches, theoretically crafted during the War to End all Wars. But it didn’t. War and rumors of war continue to assault us on a daily basis.

We had the Childhood stories, final final (fifth) draft crafting a memorable moment. And although a few of them detailed standing in long lines at Disneyland, most of them did not, and included mothers screaming curses and sliced fingers and lonely moves and dads on drugs.

And really even the Physical vs. Chemical Changes lab activities are about ages to ages. Before the mountains and seas were formed, He was in the beginning, forming the mysterious water molecules, which expand when they turn into a solid, rather than growing more dense.

And learning to see.

We ask for such perfect seeing.

Ages to ages. Flipping through old photo albums stacked under the coffee table.

Is now and ever shall Be.

That we might truly hear and obey.

Not our strength, O Lord, but Your mercy.

Bow down Your ear, O LORD, and answer me.

Amen.

And amen.